Authorities say a large-scale smuggling scheme has led to the arrests of eight people — a ninth, believed to be the mastermind, remains a fugitive — who are accused of conspiring to bring millions of dollars worth of contraband goods into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach from 2023 to 2024.

Federal charges that could lead to at least 20 years in prison apiece were filed against all of the suspects, authorities announced Monday, including some involved in Southern California warehouses and truckers who are accused of taking thousands of dollars under the table for participating in what officials characterized as a “criminal network.”

Speaking at the event were acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally; Eddy Wang, Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles special agent in charge; and Cheryl Davies, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Los Angeles Field Office.

“Ensuring the integrity of who and what comes into our country is critical to our border security and, ultimately, to our national security,” McNally said, characterizing the operation as a “wide-ranging scheme to circumvent inspections at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.”

The operation apparently took place from August 2023 to June, said authorities, who conducted the news conference on the L.A. Waterfront. The contraband amounted to more than $200 million, officials said.

McNally said the operation involved logistics companies, warehouse owners “and corrupt truckers.”

Items included chemicals to produce illegal medications and narcotics.

The man believed to be behind the operation is Diamond Bar resident Weijun Zheng, 57, also known as “Sonic,” who is the lone fugitive in the case and who controls several logistics companies operating in the Los Angeles area, authorities said.

The operation involved evading coded security seals that are placed on all shipping containers. Containers would be diverted to off-site warehouses, the contraband goods removed and replaced with “generic” products, and new seals with the same security codes put back on.

Officials later released the list of those arrested and now facing federal charges:

Hexi Wang, 32, of El Monte, who manages K&P International Logistics LLC, a City of Industry company that hires commercial truckers to transport shipping containers from the Port of L.A.

Jin “Mark” Liu, 42, of Irvine, the owner of K&P International Logistics LLC and who managed the finances of one of the warehouses where contraband was unloaded and issued payments to truck drivers who transported smuggled goods.

Dong “Liam” Lin, 31, of Hacienda Heights, who — along with Zheng — controlled and operated one of the contraband warehouses.

Marck Anthony Gomez, 49, of West Covina, the owner and operator of Fannum Trucks LLC, a West Covina company that coordinated the movement of shipping containers from the Port of L.A., including large shipments of contraband smuggled into the United States from China.

Andy Estuardo Castillo Perez, 32, of Apple Valley, a driver for M4 Transportation Inc., a Carson company that transports shipping containers from the Port of L.A.

Jesse James Rosales, 41, of Apple Valley, who coordinated truckers from the ports to warehouses.

Daniel Acosta Hoffman, 41, of Hacienda Heights, who worked with Rosales to bring cargo containers from the Port of L.A. to warehouses.

Galvin Biao Liufu, 33, of Ontario, who directed and managed truck drivers to bring the contraband into the warehouses.

Zheng, Wang, Liu and others maintained and operated warehouses to store, conceal and sell large amounts of contraband goods that were illegally imported into the U.S. from China, according to the indictment. When the contraband containers were selected by Customs and Border Protection for inspection, the defendants hired commercial truck drivers to transport the containers from the Port of L.A. to locations that the coconspirators controlled, including warehouses in the City of Industry that were controlled or managed by Zheng, Wang and others.

At these locations, coconspirators broke the security seals on the shipping containers and removed the contraband from inside.

Then, they affixed counterfeit security seals onto the containers to conceal that cargo had been removed from them. Zheng, Wang and others then directed coconspirators to transport the containers — after they had been emptied of much of their original cargo and resecured with counterfeit seals — to CBP-authorized locations for the remaining cargo to be presented to customs officials for inspection.

Zheng, Wang, Liu and others paid fees to coconspirators, including Gomez and Castillo Perez, that were substantially above normal trucking fees to transport the contraband shipping containers.

“It was a team of CBP agriculture specialists assigned to the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport who in 2023, during a routine examination of a container, made the initial discovery,” Davies said. “This case attests to their unwavering vigilance, upmost professionalism, and keen focus in protecting the integrity of lawful trade, a key component of our critical national security mission.”

To date, law enforcement has seized more than $1.3 billion worth of counterfeit goods associated with this and similar seal-swapping schemes, according to a news release issued later on Monday.